Method of dividing screen areas and mobile terminal employing the same

ABSTRACT

A method of supporting divided screen areas and a mobile terminal employing the same are disclosed. The method includes: generating input signals for one of sequentially and simultaneously activating a plurality of user functions; activating the user functions according to generated input signals; dividing a screen into divided screen areas that correspond to activated user functions; and outputting functional view areas associated with the activated user functions to the corresponding divided screen areas.

CLAIM OF PRIORITY

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Ser.No. 61/163,259 filed Mar. 25, 2009, and also claims the benefit ofpriority under 35 U.S.C. §119 from Korean patent application No.10-2009-0128711 filed on Dec. 22, 2009, the contents of which are hereinincorporated by reference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates generally to a mobile terminal and, moreparticularly, to a method and mobile terminal that can divide the screeninto individual divided screen areas and simultaneously present userfunctions on the individual divided screen areas.

2. Description of the Related Art

Recently, mobile terminals supporting mobility and various userfunctions have come into widespread use. To support user functions,mobile terminals can provide a variety of input means. For example, amobile terminal can have a physical keypad for entering characters andnumbers. To support portability, a mobile terminal can have a limitedsize. A mobile terminal can have a touch screen embedding a touch pad,in which case the screen size can be expanded by removing the keypad.Thanks to advances in display technology, screen sizes of mobileterminals have been significantly increased. Hence, there is a need fora method that enables a mobile terminal to effectively operate a largescreen for user convenience.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a method and mobile terminal having ascreen that can divide the screen into a plurality of divided screenareas and simultaneously present user functions on each of theindividual divided screen areas according to usage conditions.

In accordance with an exemplary embodiment of the present invention,there is provided a screen area dividing method for a mobile terminal,including: generating input signals for one of sequentially andsimultaneously activating a plurality of user functions; activating theplurality of user functions according to the generated input signals; inaccordance with the activated functions, dividing the screen intocorresponding divided screen areas; and outputting functional view areasassociated with the activated user functions to the correspondingdivided screen areas.

In accordance with another exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention, there is provided a mobile terminal capable of supporting aplurality of divided screen areas, including: a storage unit for storageof a plurality of application programs that implement user functions; aninput unit for generation of a plurality of input signals for one ofsequential and simultaneous activation of user functions; a control unitfor activation of user functions according to the plurality of generatedinput signals, and for output of functional view areas associated withthe user functions to be on the plurality of divided screen areas; and adisplay unit for display of the functional view areas.

The present invention provides a divided screen area function comprisinga plurality of divided screen areas such that a user can execute userfunctions using divided screen areas in an easy and effective manner.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The features and advantages of the present invention will be moreapparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunctionwith the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates an external appearance of a mobile terminal accordingto an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an illustration of an exemplary block diagram of the mobileterminal of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 illustrates presentation of user functions on a plurality ofdivided screen areas, according to an exemplary embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIGS. 4A to 4E illustrate splitting and merging of screens, according toan exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 5A to 5D illustrate transitions between screens associated withuser functions, in an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 6 illustrates a screen representation for a first example of userinteraction, in an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 7A to 7C illustrate screen representations for a second example ofuser interaction, in an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 illustrates a screen representation for a third example of userinteraction, in an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 9 illustrates a screen representation for a fourth example of userinteraction, in an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIGS. 10 and 11 illustrate screen representations for a fifth example ofuser interaction, in an exemplary embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 12 illustrates a screen representation for a sixth example of userinteraction, in an exemplary embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 13 illustrates a screen representation for a seventh example ofuser interaction, in an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention aredescribed in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. Thesame reference symbols are used throughout the drawings to refer to thesame or like parts. Detailed descriptions of well-known functions andstructures incorporated herein are omitted to avoid obscuring thesubject matter of the present invention. Particular terms are defined todescribe the invention in the best manner. Accordingly, the meaning ofspecific terms or words used in the specification and the claims shouldnot be limited to the literal or commonly employed sense, but should beconstrued in accordance with the spirit of the invention. Thedescription of the various embodiments is to be construed as exemplaryonly and does not describe every possible instance of the invention.Therefore, it should be understood that various changes can be made andequivalents can be substituted for elements of the invention.

FIG. 1 illustrates an external appearance of a mobile terminal 100according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention, and FIG.2 illustrates an example of a block diagram of the mobile terminal 100.

Referring to FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the mobile terminal 100 includes a radiofrequency unit 110, an input unit 120, an audio processing unit 130, atouch screen 140, a storage unit 150, and a control unit 160. The mobileterminal 100 depicted in FIG. 1 is of a slide type. However, the presentinvention is not limited thereto. For example, the mobile terminal 100composed of an upper slide body and a lower slide body can betransformed into a bar type mobile terminal by removing the lower slidebody having the input unit 120. The touch screen 140 with a key map canact as an input means for the bar type mobile terminal.

The mobile terminal 100 having the above configuration can activate ascreen area management program stored in the storage unit 150 inresponse to a user request, divide the screen into divided screen areasif necessary, and output functional view areas related to activated userfunctions on the individual divided screen areas. The mobile terminal100 can support information exchange between the functional view areasand perform subsequent operations using the exchanged information. Next,each component of the mobile terminal 100 is described in more detail.

The radio frequency unit 110 establishes a communication channel forvoice, video and data communication under the control of the controlunit 160. That is, the radio frequency unit 110 establishes acommunication channel for a voice call, a data call and a video call toa mobile communication system. To achieve this, the radio frequency unitcan include a radio frequency transmitter for upconverting the frequencyof a signal to be transmitted and amplifying the signal, and a radiofrequency receiver for low-noise amplifying a received signal anddownconverting the frequency of the received signal. For effectiveoperation of the radio frequency unit 110, the mobile terminal candisplay various information items including a phonebook on the displayunit 141. If the mobile terminal 100 is not designed to support mobilecommunication, the radio frequency unit 110 can be eliminated from theconfiguration. The functional view area related to the radio frequencyunit 110 can be displayed on one of divided screen areas. For example,in response to a signal for one of an outgoing call and an incoming callrequiring activation of the radio frequency unit 110, the mobileterminal 100 can divide the screen of the display unit 141 into aplurality of divided screen areas, and output a functional view arearelated to a user function on one divided screen area and output afunctional view area related to operation of the radio frequency unit110 on another divided screen area.

The input unit 120 includes a plurality of alphanumeric and functionkeys for inputting alphanumeric information and for setting variousfunctions. The function keys can include functions selected from thegroup consisting of direction, side, and shortcut keys associated withspecific functions. In particular, as illustrated in FIG. 1, the inputunit 120 can include a touch pad 121 near the display unit 141 on anupper slide body, and a plurality of key buttons 123 on a lower slidebody slidable under the upper slide body. The touch pad 121 arranged atthe touch screen 140 can generate an input signal corresponding to atouch of the user and send the input signal to the control unit 160. Theplurality of key buttons 123 are placed on the front of the lower slidebody, and can be arranged in a plurality of forms like a keyboard. Theplurality of key buttons 123 can also be arranged on a metal keypad.

The audio processing unit 130 includes a speaker SPK for outputtingincoming and outgoing audio data during a call and for outputting audiodata contained in any of received messages and stored in the storageunit 150, and a microphone MIC for collecting an audio signal such as avoice signal during a call. The audio processing unit 130 can generate asound alert indicating formation of divided screen areas and output theaudio component of functional view areas displayed in the divided screenareas. When each functional view area displayed in the divided screenareas contains audio data, the audio processing unit 130 can outputaudio data related to a particular divided screen area or simultaneouslyoutput audio data related to all the divided screen areas, according toany of user settings and user selections. The audio processing unit 130can not generate a sound alert indicating formation of divided screenareas according to user settings.

The touch screen 140 includes a display unit 141 and a touch panel 143.The touch panel 143 can be arranged on the front of the display unit141. The size of the touch screen 140 can depend on the size of thetouch panel 143. For example, the touch screen 140 can be a full touchscreen completely covering the front of the display unit 141.

The display unit 141 displays at least one of each of menus, informationinput by the user, and information to be provided to the user. Forexample, the display unit 141 can output a plurality of screens relatedto utilization of the mobile terminal 100, such as any screen selectedfrom the group consisting of an idle screen, menu screen, messagecomposition screen, and call handling screen. The display unit 141 canbe implemented using any of liquid crystal display (LCD) devices andorganic light emitting diodes (OLED). As described before, the touchscreen 140 including the touch panel 143 can act as an input means. Inparticular, under the control of the control unit 160, the display unit141 can divide the screen into a plurality of divided screen areas andoutput functional view areas related to user functions to the individualdivided screen areas. Outputting functional view areas to the dividedscreen areas is described later in more detail.

The touch panel 143 is installed on the display unit 141, and cangenerate a touch event corresponding to a touch on one of a specificimage and item displayed on the display unit 141. For example, inresponse to a touch on a displayed instrument image, the touch panel 143generates a corresponding touch event and sends the touch event to thecontrol unit 160. A displayed image or item can be associated with auser function.

The storage unit 150 can store any of application programs related tothe present invention, and key maps and menu maps for the touch screencapability. The key maps can correspond to various keyboards includingany of a 3*4 keyboard and a Qwerty keyboard, and can include a controlkey map for controlling execution of an activated application program.The menu maps can include any of a menu map for controlling execution ofan activated application program, and a menu map related to the menus ofthe mobile terminal 100. The storage unit 150 can include any of aprogram zone and a data zone.

The program zone can store any of an operating system (OS) for bootingand operating the mobile terminal 100, application programs forreproduction of various files, application programs for call-relatedfunctions, a browser for accessing a web server, application programsfor playback of MP3 data, and application programs for viewing stillimages and moving images. In particular, the storage unit 150 stores ascreen area management program.

The screen area management program can be loaded on the control unit 160in response to activation of a particular user function. The screen areamanagement program is a control program that, when divided screen areaformation is requested during execution of a user function, divides thescreen of the display unit 141 into a plurality of divided screen areasand outputs functional view areas related to active user functions tothe individual divided screen areas. To achieve this, the screen areamanagement program can include any of a routine for detecting an inputsignal generated during execution of a user function, a routine fordetermining whether an input signal corresponds to a condition presetfor divided screen area formation, and a routine for dividing the screenif the input signal corresponds to a condition preset for divided screenarea formation. The screen area management program can further includeany of an output routine for outputting two functional view areasrelated to a user function and the input signal to the correspondingdivided screen areas of the display unit 141, and an action routine forperforming any of inserting, setting, searching, copying, moving, andinvoking one of a data item in and a data item between the two displayedfunctional view areas for information exchange. The output routine caninclude any of a subroutine for reformatting the functional view arearelated to the user function according to the corresponding dividedscreen area, and a subroutine for adjusting the functional view arearelated to the input signal according to the corresponding dividedscreen area. The action routine is described in more detail later.

The data zone is an area that stores data generated by the use of themobile terminal 100, and can store any of phonebook information, atleast one icon associated with widgets, and at least one content. Thedata zone can store user data input through the touch screen 140. Inparticular, the data zone can temporarily store screen data related touser functions, and descriptive information regarding divided screenareas after divided screen area formation in response to a specificinput signal.

The control unit 160 controls supply of power to the components of themobile terminal 100 for initialization, and controls the components toprovide a user interface for supporting divided screen areas and toperform requested operations. In particular, the control unit 160controls an operation to demarcate the display unit 141 into two areasaccording to properties of activated user functions, and outputsfunctional view areas related to the user functions to the two areas.

Referring to FIG. 3, when a first user function and a second userfunction, which are independent of each other, are activated at one ofthe same time and in sequence, as illustrated in screen 301, the controlunit 160 can control the display unit 141 to divide the screen into twoareas, and cause a functional view area A.App for the first userfunction to be displayed on one area and cause a functional view areaB.App for the second user function to be displayed on the other area.The functional view area A.App and the functional view area B.App caninclude an image and a text string depending upon the first and seconduser functions. For example, if the first user function is related tomusic playback, the functional view area A.App can include a control keymap for controlling music playback and an image depicting the music filebeing played back. If the second user function is related to messagecomposition, the functional view area B.App can include a key map and amessage composition view area for composing a message.

When two instances of a user function are activated, the control unit160 can control the display unit 141 to divide the screen into twoareas, and cause two functional view areas to be displayed on thecorresponding areas as illustrated in screen 302. For example, when afirst user function being a message composition function is activated,the control unit 160 can control the display unit 141 to display one ofa message composition view area in a full screen format and to display amessage composition view area and a key map in a full screen format.Thereafter, when the user activates a second user function being themessage composition function, the control unit 160 controls the displayunit 141 to divide the screen into two areas, to display a functionalview area A1.App (i.e., resized message composition view area) for thefirst user function on one area, and to display a functional view areaA2.App for the second user function on the other area. For anotherexample, when the user activates an application requiring two Webconnections, the control unit 160 can control the display unit 141 todisplay a functional view area A1.App as to one Web connection and afunctional view area A2.App as to the other Web connection on thecorresponding areas.

When related user functions are activated, the control unit 160 cancontrol the display unit 141 to divide the screen into two areas, andcause two functional view areas to be displayed on the correspondingareas as illustrated in screen 303. For example, when the user activatesa message composition function first and then activates a file searchfunction for message composition, the control unit 160 can control thedisplay unit 141 to divide the screen into two areas, to display afunctional view area A.App as to the message composition function on onearea, and to display a functional view area LinkA.App as to the filesearch function on the other area. Hence, the user can compose a messageusing the functional view area A.App displayed on one area and can findand attach a necessary file using the functional view area LinkA.Appdisplayed on the other area.

When a user function is activated first and then a sub function thereofis activated, the control unit 160 can control the display unit 141 todivide the screen into two areas, and cause two functional view areas tobe displayed on the corresponding areas as illustrated in screen 304.For example, when a message search function is activated for receivedmessages, the control unit 160 can control the display unit 141 todisplay a list of all received messages in a full screen format.Thereafter, when a user input signal is generated to select and view areceived message of the list, the control unit 160 can activate a subuser function for selecting and viewing a desired received message.Here, the control unit 160 can control the display unit 141 to dividethe screen into two areas, to display a functional view area A.App as tothe message search function on one area, and to display a functionalview area SubA.App as to the message viewing function on the other area.

As described above, the control unit 160 can control the display unit141 to divide the screen into different areas, and cause functional viewareas associated with any of independent user functions, instances ofthe same user function, related user functions, and main and subordinateuser functions, to be displayed on the corresponding areas.

Next, a description is given of divided screen area formation inconnection with FIGS. 4A to 4E.

Referring to FIG. 4A, the user of the mobile terminal 100 can generatean input signal to display a plurality of one of menu items and widgetitems. As illustrated in screen 401, the mobile terminal 100 can displaya plurality of menu items on the screen in response to an input signal.The plurality of menu items can include a dual menu item, which is to bedisplayed on divided screen areas. Here, when a dual menu item isactivated, the screen of the display unit 141 is divided into two areasand two functional view areas as to two menus are displayed on the twoareas. A dual menu item can be one of created according to designsettings and be created when the user combines two menu items together.The mobile terminal 100 can provide a special menu that enables the userto combine two selected menu items together into a dual menu item. Inscreen 401, menu items E, F, G, H, I, J, K and L are a single menu item,and menu items “AB”, “CB” and “CD” are a dual menu items.

When the user selects a dual menu item “AB” in screen 401, the mobileterminal 100 can activate application programs related to the menu itemsA and B, display a functional view area App.A as to the applicationprogram related to the menu item A on a divided screen area, and displaya functional view area App.B as to the application program related tothe menu item B on the other divided screen area, as illustrated inscreen 403. As described above, the mobile terminal 100 can provide afeature for setting a dual menu item and output a functional view arearelated to the dual menu item to the divided screen areas.

Referring to FIG. 4B, when the user generates an input signal toactivate a menu ‘C’ or a function ‘C’, the mobile terminal 100 candisplay a functional view area App.C as to the menu ‘C’ or function ‘C’on the screen, as illustrated in screen 411. Thereafter, when the usergenerates an input signal to activate a function ‘A’ in screen 411, themobile terminal 100 can display a functional view area App.A as to thefunction ‘A’ on the display unit 141, as illustrated in screen 413. Forexample, when the user activates a Web browser, the mobile terminal 100can access a Web server using a preset Web address and display a Webaccess view area received from the Web server as illustrated in screen411. Thereafter, when the user generates an input signal to select anitem having a link from the Web access view area, the mobile terminal100 can display a linked Web access view area on the display unit 141,as illustrated in screen 413.

The mobile terminal 100 can provide simultaneous presentation of twopieces of data related by an event history. For example, when the usergenerates an input signal corresponding to one of a particular key and atouch event like the ‘Home’ key in screen 413, the mobile terminal 100can simultaneously output two functional view areas App.C and App.A tothe display unit 141 as illustrated in screen 415, where the functionalview area App.C is related by an event history to the functional viewarea App.A. In this case, the mobile terminal 100 can control thedisplay unit 141 to divide the screen into two areas, and causefunctional view areas to be displayed on the corresponding areas. Thatis, the mobile terminal 100 can display the functional view area App.A(presented immediately before pressing the ‘Home’ key) on the leftdivided screen area, and display the functional view area App.C(presented in relation to the function ‘C’ before the function ‘A’) onthe right divided screen area. The mobile terminal 100 can move afunctional view area to another divided screen area in response tooccurrence of, for example, a drag event. When the ‘Home’ key is pressedagain during display of divided screen areas, the mobile terminal 100can return to the previous screen as illustrated in screen 413. Asdescribed above, when two functional view areas are related to eachother through an event history, the mobile terminal 100 cansimultaneously present the two functional view areas on the dividedscreen areas.

Referring to FIG. 4C, when the user generates an input signal toactivate a function ‘A’, the mobile terminal 100 can display afunctional view area App.A as to the function ‘A’ on the display unit141, as illustrated in screen 421. Thereafter, when the user generatesan input signal to activate a sub task of the function ‘A’ in screen421, the mobile terminal 100 activates the sub task, and can display afunctional view area A_Main as to the function ‘A’ on one divided screenarea and display a functional view area A_Sub as to the sub task on theother divided screen area as illustrated in screen 423. Here, thefunctional view area A_Main in screen 423 is one of a resized and asimplified version of the functional view area App.A in screen 421. Thedivided screen areas to which the functional view area A_Main andfunctional view area A_Sub are output can be any of fixed, altered, andrandomly determined according to user settings.

When the sub task A_Sub one of ends and is terminated by the user, themobile terminal 100 can output a functional view area App.A-1 reflectingthe result of the sub task A_Sub to the display unit 141 in a fullscreen format, as illustrated in screen 425.

As an example for the case in FIG. 4C, when the user generates an inputsignal to activate a message composition program, the mobile terminal100 can display a functional view area App.A (a message composition viewarea) as to the message composition program on the screen, asillustrated in screen 421. Thereafter, when the user generates an inputsignal for finding an attached file, the mobile terminal 100 can outputa functional view area A_Sub as to the file search function asillustrated in screen 423. Here, the functional view area App.A (messagecomposition view area) in screen 421 can be one of resized and changedin attribute into the functional view area A_Main as illustrated inscreen 423. Thereafter, when the user selects an image in the functionalview area A_Sub and attaches the selected image to the functional viewarea A_Main, the mobile terminal 100 can output a functional view areaApp.A-1 as to a message with an attached image in a full screen formatas illustrated in screen 425. When the user generates an input signalfor ending file search, the mobile terminal 100 can return to screen421. As described above, when a function and subordinate function areactivated, the mobile terminal 100 can output functional view areasrelated to the function and subordinate function to divided screenareas.

Referring to FIG. 4D, the user of the mobile terminal 100 can generatean input signal for activating a function ‘A’, the mobile terminal 100can display a functional view area App.A as to the function ‘A’ on thedisplay unit 141, as illustrated in screen 431. Thereafter, when anevent corresponding to one of a schedule and a condition is generated,the mobile terminal 100 can activate an application program for handlingthe event and output a functional view area as to the event handlingapplication program to the display unit 141. Here, as illustrated inscreen 433, the mobile terminal 100 can display the functional view areaApp.A as to the function ‘A’ on one divided screen area throughresizing, and display a functional view area Event as to the eventhandling application program on the other divided screen area.

As an example for the case in FIG. 4C, when the user generates an inputsignal to activate a function ‘A’ for moving image playback, the mobileterminal 100 can display a functional view area App.A as to moving imageplayback on the display unit 141 in a full screen format, as illustratedin screen 431. Thereafter, when an incoming call is received, the mobileterminal 100 can generate an alert for call reception, and output afunctional view area related to call event handling to the display unit141. Here, as illustrated in screen 433, the mobile terminal 100 candisplay the functional view area App.A as to the function ‘A’ on onedivided screen area, and display a functional view area Event as to callevent handling on the other divided screen area.

As depicted above, in response to reception of an incoming call, themobile terminal 100 can output a functional view area related to callevent handling to the display unit 141. In the case of a call event, asthe user normally grips the mobile terminal 100 and moves it close tothe user's face, the mobile terminal 100 can pause moving image playbackand turn off the display unit 141 to save battery power. When theincoming call is ended, the mobile terminal 100 can return to screen431.

In response to a schedule alert event, the mobile terminal 100 canoutput a functional view area (an alert message) related to schedulealert handling to the left divided screen area, as illustrated in screen433. Here, as handling of a schedule alert event is not in conflict withplayback of moving images, the functional view area related to playbackof moving images can be retained. Options for playback of moving imagesincluding continue and pause can be set by the design and changed by theuser. As described above, in response to occurrence of one of anexternal and internal event when a functional view area related to auser function is output in a full screen format, the mobile terminal candisplay the functional view area related to the event and the functionalview area related to the user function on divided screen areas.

Referring to FIG. 4E, the user of the mobile terminal 100 can generatean input signal for activating a listing function, the mobile terminal100 can display a functional view area “List A” as to the listingfunction on the display unit 141 and further display a splitter icon fordivided screen areas, as illustrated in screen 441. Thereafter, when theuser touches the splitter icon, the mobile terminal 100 can output afunctional view area (items of List A) related to detailed viewing asillustrated in screen 443. That is, the mobile terminal 100 can dividethe screens, output a resized functional view area “List A” to thedisplay unit 141, and output the functional view area related todetailed viewing to the display unit 141 together with the functionalview area “List A”. Here, in the mobile terminal 100, divided screenareas can be formed in portrait mode as illustrated in screen 445 andscreen 447.

The mobile terminal 100 can provide a “merge” icon for returning to theprevious screen as illustrated in screen 445 or screen 447. When theuser selects the “merge” icon, the mobile terminal 100 can return toscreen 441 or screen 445.

Hereinabove, a description is given of divided screen area formation inconnection with FIGS. 4A to 4E. Next, transitions between divided screenareas are described.

FIGS. 5A to 5D illustrate transitions between divided screen areasassociated with user functions.

Referring to FIG. 5A, when the user activates a file search function,the mobile terminal 100 can display a functional view area as to thefile search function on the display unit 141. Here, when the useractivates the file search function based on divided screen areas, themobile terminal 100 can divide the screen into divided screen areas andoutput functional view areas related to files on the divided screenareas as illustrated in screen 501. For example, after display of dualmenu items, the user can generate an input signal for selecting a dualmenu item. Then, the mobile terminal 100 can output functional viewareas related to the dual menu item on the divided screen areas asillustrated in screen 501. Alternatively, as described before inconnection with FIG. 4, in response to activation of a user function,the mobile terminal 100 can output a functional view area related to theuser function on the divided screen areas. The mobile terminal 100 candivide the screen of the display unit 141 into two divided screen areas,and output two functional view areas A.App and B.App related to theselected files on the divided screen areas. The mobile terminal 100 canfurther output a search view area, which can overlap with the dividedscreen areas, on the display unit 141. The search view area can beoutput in response to a given touch event occurring when a functionalview area is displayed on the display unit 141, and can be removed fromthe display unit 141 after expiration of a preset time. The mobileterminal 100 can also divide the screen of the display unit 141 intothree areas, and output a functional view area A.App, a functional viewarea B.App, and the search view area on the three areas, respectively.In the search view area, icons associated with the functional view areabeing currently displayed on the display unit 141, and icons associatedwith other files can be present. The icons associated with thefunctional view area being currently displayed can be highlighted toindicate the files being selected and output.

In screen 501, when the user generates an input signal for selecting anicon App.C, the mobile terminal 100 can output a functional view areaC.App related to the icon App.C to the display unit 141 as illustratedin screen 503. During this process, the mobile terminal 100 can replacethe functional view area A.App with the functional view area C.App. Tooutput a new functional view area, the mobile terminal 100 can identifythe oldest functional view area on display and replace the oldestfunctional view area with the new functional view area.

As described above, to support divided-screen area transition, themobile terminal 100 can perform any one or more of display a separatesearch view area, select a desired icon in the search view area, andreplace one functional view area being output with a functional viewarea related to the selected icon.

Referring to FIG. 5B, the mobile terminal 100 can also output afunctional view area when the user selects a file in the search viewarea. To be more specific, as illustrated in screen 511, it is assumedthat the mobile terminal 100 displays functional view areas A.App andB.App in response to selection of an icon App.A and icon App.B in thesearch view area. The user can select an icon App.C and move the iconApp.C to the location where the functional view area A.App is displayedthrough touch and drag. The user can also select an icon App.F and movethe icon App.F to the location where the functional view area B.App isdisplayed through touch and drag.

In response to the user actions, as illustrated in screen 513, themobile terminal 100 can replace the functional view area A.App with afunctional view area C.App related to the icon App.C, and replace thefunctional view area B.App with a functional view area F.App related tothe icon App.F.

As described above, when the user selects an icon in the search viewarea and directly moves the selected icon to a desired location on thescreen, the mobile terminal 100 can display a functional view arearelated to the selected icon at the desired location.

Referring to FIG. 5C, as described before in connection with FIG. 4, inresponse to activation of user functions, the mobile terminal 100 candivide the screen of the display unit 141 into two divided screen areas,and output two functional view areas App.A and App.B related to the userfunctions on the divided screen areas as illustrated in screen 521.

Thereafter, the user can enter the “Home” key provided on the mobileterminal 100. In response, the mobile terminal 100 can resize thefunctional view areas App.A and App.B into functional view areas ‘A’ and‘B’ and place the functional view areas ‘A’ and ‘B’ at preset locations,and can output a menu view area corresponding to the “Home” key on thedisplay unit 141. That is, as illustrated in screen 523, the mobileterminal 100 can display the resized functional view area ‘A’ at a leftarea on the display unit 141, display the resized functional view area‘B’ at a right area, and output the menu view area related to the “Home”key between the functional view area ‘A’ and the functional view area‘B’. In screen 523, the user can select a function icon ‘C’ among atleast one function icon in the menu view area and move the function icon‘C’ to the functional view area ‘A’ through drag and drop.

In response to movement of the function icon ‘C’, as illustrated inscreen 525, the mobile terminal 100 can replace the functional view area‘A’ with the functional view area ‘C’ related to the function icon ‘C’.Thereafter, when the user generates an input signal for tapping a splitarea in screen 525, the mobile terminal 100 can remove the menu viewarea and resize the functional view area being output to fit in thecorresponding split area of the display unit 141 as illustrated inscreen 527. For example, the menu view area is hidden in screen 527; thefunctional view area ‘C’ in screen 525 is resized into a functional viewarea App.C fitting in the corresponding split area in screen 527; andthe functional view area ‘B’ in screen 525 is resized into a functionalview area App.B fitting in the corresponding split area in screen 527.

Referring to FIG. 5D, the mobile terminal 100 can replace existingfunctional view areas with new functional view areas at once through themenu view area. To be more specific, as described before in connectionwith FIG. 4, in response to activation of user functions, the mobileterminal 100 can divide the screen of the display unit 141 into twodivided screen areas, and output two functional view areas App.E andApp.H related to the user functions on the divided screen areas asillustrated in screen 531.

The user can cause a menu view area containing at least one functionicon to be displayed on the display unit 141. To achieve this, themobile terminal 100 can provide a special key like the “Home” key. Whenthe user enters the “Home” key, the mobile terminal 100 can display amenu view area containing at least one function icon on the display unit141 in a full screen format as illustrated in screen 533. As describedbefore, the menu view area can include a dual menu item. A dual menuitem can be created and destroyed in a manner selected from the groupconsisting of automatically and according to user settings. The mobileterminal 100 can provide a special interface that enables the user tocreate a dual menu item.

When the user generates an input signal for selecting a dual menu item“AB” in the menu view area illustrated in screen 533, the mobileterminal 100 can output two functional view areas App.A and App.Brelated to the dual menu item “AB” on the divided screen areas asillustrated in screen 535. Here, when the user selects a dual menu itemin screen 533, the mobile terminal 100 can directly output a functionalview area related to the selected dual menu item as illustrated inscreen 535. Alternatively, when the user selects a dual menu item inscreen 533 and generates one of a given key signal and touch event foroutputting functional view areas related to the selected dual menu item,the mobile terminal 100 can output the functional view areas asillustrated in screen 535.

As described above, the mobile terminal 100 can perform screentransition according to one of the methods selected from the groupconsisting of selection of an icon in a search view area, movement of anicon in a search view area to a desired split area, output of a menuview area through rearrangement of divided screen areas and selection ofan icon in the menu view area, and output of a menu view area throughdisplay of divided screen areas and selection of a dual menu item in themenu view area.

Hereinabove, a description is given of the configuration of the mobileterminal 100. A description is also given of divided screen areas andscreen transitions. Next, a description is given of a plurality of userinteractions using divided screen areas with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 6 illustrates a screen representation for a first example of userinteraction, in an exemplary embodiment of the present invention.

In FIG. 6, user interaction is related to a message composition viewarea. The message composition view area can be displayed on the displayunit by any of activating a user menu and selecting a messagecomposition function through the user menu, and by entering a given keyassociated with message composition. For example, as illustrated inscreen 601, when the user selects an information item registered as“Yun” in the phonebook and activates a message composition function, themobile terminal 100 can output a message composition view area.

When the user touches a zone 61 reserved for more options as illustratedin screen 601, the mobile terminal 100 can display an option view area63 on the display unit 141 as illustrated in screen 603. The option viewarea 63 can include a plurality of items related to the messagecomposition view area, selected from the group including “File”,“Namecard”, “Calendar”, “Task”, and “Memo”. When the user selects theitem “File” in the option view area 63, the mobile terminal 100 candisplay subordinates items of the item “File” on the display unit 141.For example, the mobile terminal 100 can display a subordinate item viewarea 65 selected from the group including “Add multimedia”, “Addsubject”, “Add attachment”, “Save in”, “Recipients”, “Add test”, “AddCc/Bcc”, and “Sending Options”. Here, the mobile terminal 100 candisplay the subordinate item view area 65 of the item “File” in anoverlay format on the message composition view area, and arrange thesubordinate item view area 65 and the option view area 63 so that theydo not overlap with each other.

When the user selects an item “Add Attachment” in the subordinate itemview area 65, the mobile terminal 100 can divide the screen of thedisplay unit 141 into split areas and output a first functional viewarea 62 related to message composition and a second functional view area64 related to file attachment on the split areas as illustrated inscreen 605. When the user selects a folder “Images” in the secondfunctional view area 64, the mobile terminal 100 can display a listingview area 66 containing a list of files in the folder “Images” on thecorresponding split area as illustrated in screen 607. Here, display ofthe second functional view area 64 can be replaced with display of thelisting view area 66. When the user selects specific files“Picture1.jpg” and “Picture2.jpg” in the listing view area 66 andselects an icon “Add” for file attachment as illustrated in screen 609,the mobile terminal 100 can display the message composition view areacontaining the selected files on the display unit 141 in a full screenformat as illustrated in screen 611. Here, to clearly indicate theattached files, the mobile terminal 100 can display a file attach viewarea 67 at a region of the message composition view area. The fileattach view area 67 can include information indicating selected filessuch as “Picture1.jpg” and “Picture2.jpg”.

FIGS. 7A to 7C illustrate screen representations for a second example ofuser interaction, and are related to transferring information betweenfunctional view areas, in an exemplary embodiment of the presentinvention.

Referring to FIG. 7A, the user of the mobile terminal 100 can causeactivation of two user functions related to, for example, Web access andmusic file playback in one of sequentially and in parallel by the use ofone of a dual menu item and a single menu item. In response to the useraction, the mobile terminal 100 can activate a Web access function andconnect to a server using a preset address. After Web connectionestablishment, the mobile terminal 100 can display a Web access viewarea 72 for outputting data provided by the server on one divided screenarea as illustrated in screen 701. In addition, the mobile terminal 100can activate a music file player and display a music file play view area73 related to the music file player on the other divided screen area.

A illustrated in screen 701, the user generates an input signal forselecting artist information “ABBA” in the Web access view area 72,extracts the selected artist information “ABBA” (double tap), and movesthe extracted artist information “ABBA” to a search box of the Webaccess view area 72 (drag and drop) as illustrated in screen 703. Then,the mobile terminal 100 can display the selected information at thesearch box of the Web access view area 72 as illustrated in screen 705.

When the user generates an input signal “Panning” for shifting the Webaccess view area 72 at the divided screen area, the touch panel of thedisplay unit 141 generates a corresponding touch event and sends thetouch event to the control unit 160. Then, the mobile terminal 100 canshift the Web access view area 72 according to the input signal asillustrated in screen 707. Thereafter, when the user selects an item“Web search” of the Web access view area 72 for searching the Web, themobile terminal 100 can perform Web search using the artist informationinput to the search box as a search keyword and outputs Web searchresults to the Web access view area 72 as illustrated in screen 709.Here, the mobile terminal 100 can send a message containing the artistinformation input to the search box to a given Web server, and canreceive corresponding Web search results from the Web server through theradio frequency unit 110 and output the received Web search results tothe display unit 141.

Referring to FIG. 7B, the user can make an activation request for a mailcheck function of the mobile terminal 100. In response to the userrequest, the mobile terminal 100 can display a list of receivedelectronic mail on the display unit 141, and, upon selection of anelectronic mail, output the contents of the selected electronic mail ona given area of the display unit 141 as illustrated in screen 711. Whenthe user makes an activation request for a map viewing function, themobile terminal 100 can activate the map viewing function and display apreset map on the display unit 141. Here, the mobile terminal 100 canoutput an email handling view area 73 related to the mail check functionon one divided screen area of the display unit 141, and output a mapviewing view area 76 related to the map viewing function on the otherdivided screen area. Here, the mobile terminal 100 can control the emailhandling view area 73 and the map viewing view area 76 to have differentsizes. That is, when the user generates an input signal through thetouch pad 121 for resizing at least one of the email handling view area73 and the map viewing view area 76, the mobile terminal 100 can adjustthe size of at least one of the email handling view area 73 and the mapviewing view area 76.

As illustrated in screen 711, the user can select a desired informationelement of the email handling view area 73. For example, the user canselect address information 74 of the email handling view area 73 in aplurality of ways. That is, when the user drags a region where theaddress information 74 is output and when a block covering the addressinformation 74 is set, the user can select the address information 74 bytapping the block. After selecting the address information 74, the usercan move the address information 74 to the map viewing view area 76 bydragging.

Then, the mobile terminal 100 can execute the map viewing function usingthe address information 74 transferred from the email handling view area73 to the map viewing view area 76, and output the map of thegeographical region indicated by the address information 74 at a givenscale on the map viewing view area 76 as illustrated in screen 713. Inother words, the mobile terminal 100 can treat the address information74 transferred from the email handling view area 73 to the map viewingview area 76 as a search word, and invoke the map viewing function onthe basis of the address information 74. Then, the mobile terminal 100can adjust the scale of the map of the geographical region indicated bythe address information 74 at a preset value, and display thescale-adjusted map on the map viewing view area 76. Here, the size ofthe email handling view area 73 and the map viewing view area 76 can beadjusted according to one of an input signal from the input unit 120 andaccording to a touch event from the touch screen 140. For example, theboundary region between the email handling view area 73 and the mapviewing view area 76 can be moved upwards or downwards according to atouch and drag event, and the email handling view area 73 and the mapviewing view area 76 can be adjusted in size according to movement ofthe boundary region. In response to size adjustment of a view area, oneof additional information can be displayed in the view area, and aportion of information displayed on the view area can be hidden.

Referring to FIG. 7C, when the user make an electronic mail request, themobile terminal 100 can activate an electronic mail function and outputa list of electronic mail. Thereafter, when the user selects a specificelectronic mail, the mobile terminal 100 can output the contents of theselected electronic mail to the email handling view area 75 on thedisplay unit 141 as illustrated in screen 721. When the user generatesan input signal for making a call while the electronic mail function isactivated, the mobile terminal 100 can output a dialing view area 77 forcall making on the display unit 141.

The user can generate an input signal for selecting specific informationsuch as a phone number 78 in the email handling view area 75. That is,the user can select the phone number 78 in the email handling view area75 by dragging or tapping. After selecting the phone number 78, the usercan transfer the phone number 78 to the dialing view area 77 bydragging.

Then, the mobile terminal 100 can display the phone number 78transferred by the user in the dialing view area 77 as depicted byscreen 723. Thereafter, the mobile terminal 100 can one of automaticallymake a call using the phone number 78, and can make a call using a newlydialed pone number, if present.

As described above, the mobile terminal 100 can output a plurality offunctional view areas on divided screen areas of the display unit 141according to a user request. The mobile terminal 100 enables the user toselect an information item displayed on a first functional view area andto move the selected information item to a second functional view area,and invokes the function associated with the second functional view areausing the transferred information item. In the case of the exampleillustrated in FIG. 7B, the user transfers the address information 74 tothe map viewing view area 76. When the address information 74 does notmatch geographical information stored in the storage unit 150, themobile terminal 100 can output a message indicating “not found”. In thecase of FIG. 7C, the user transfers the phone number 78 to the dialingview area 77. When the phone number 78 is wrong due to the presence ofone of a special character and other invalid character, the mobileterminal 100 can output an error message indicating such a situation.

FIG. 8 illustrates a screen representation for a third exemplaryembodiment of user interaction according to the present invention thatis embodies copying and transferring information between functional viewareas.

Referring to FIG. 8, when the user generates an input signal foractivating a Web access function, the mobile terminal 100 can activatethe Web access function. Here, the mobile terminal 100 can connect to aserver using one of a preset address and an input address, and display aWeb access view area 81 for outputting data provided by the server onthe display unit 141 as illustrated in screen 801. When the usergenerates an input signal for activating a memo function, the mobileterminal 100 can divide the screen of the display unit 141 into splitareas, display the Web access view area 81 on one split area, anddisplay a memo function view area 82 on the other split area.

When the user generates an input signal for activating a memo createfunction in the memo function view area 82, the mobile terminal 100 canoutput a memo writing view area 83 on the display unit 141 asillustrated in screen 803. To achieve this, the mobile terminal 100 canprovide one of a menu item for memo writing and output a memo writingicon to the memo function view area 82, as illustrated in screen 801.

When the user selects an information item displayed in the Web accessview area 81 and transfers the selected information item to the memowriting view area 83, as illustrated in screen 805, the mobile terminal100 can display the transferred information item in the memo writingview area 83 as illustrated in screen 807. Here, the user can select apiece of information in the Web access view area 81 by generating atouch drag event.

Thereafter, as illustrated in screen 807, the mobile terminal 100 candisplay a color selection bar 85 to enable the user to set the color ofthe memo writing view area 83. When the user selects a color of thecolor selection bar 85 through a tap, the mobile terminal 100 can setthe color of the memo writing view area 83 to the selected color asillustrated in screen 809. When the user selects a “save” icon of thememo writing view area 83, the mobile terminal 100 can return to thememo function view area 82 as illustrated in screen 811. Here, the memofunction view area 82 includes a new memo 86 written by the memo writingfunction.

FIG. 9 illustrates a screen representation for a fourth exemplaryembodiment of user interaction according to the present invention offile transfer between functional view areas.

Referring to FIG. 9, when the user generates an input signal foractivating a file search function, the mobile terminal 100 can display afirst file search view area 91 on the display unit 141 as illustrated inscreen 901. When the user generates an input signal for activatinganother file search function, the mobile terminal 100 can divide thescreen of the display unit 141 into split areas, display the first filesearch view area 91 on one split area, and display a second file searchview area 92 related to the file search function activated later on theother split area.

When the user selects an item “Images” in the second file search viewarea 92, the mobile terminal 100 can display a first listing view area93 containing subordinate items of the selected item “Images” includingany of “User Folder 1”, “User Folder 2”, “Picture1.jpg”, “Picture2.jpg”and “Picture3.jpg” as illustrated in screen 903. When the user selects afolder item “User Folder 1” in the first listing view area 93, themobile terminal 100 can display a second listing view area 94 containingsubordinate items of the selected folder item “User Folder 1” asillustrated in screen 905. The second listing view area 94 can containitems including any of “Father.jpg”, “Kathy.jpg”, “Sea.jpg”, “FedFlower.jpg”, and “Cute.jpg”. The user can generate an input signal formoving a selected item in the second listing view area 94 to a folderitem “Family” in the first file search view area 91. For example, theuser can generate an input signal for selecting an item “Father.jpg” inthe second listing view area 94 and for moving the selected item to thefolder item “Family” in the first file search view area 91 through drag.Then, the mobile terminal 100 can move the selected item “Father.jpg”from the folder “User Folder 1” displayed in the first listing view area93 to the folder “Family” displayed in the first file search view area91 as illustrated in screen 907. The mobile terminal 100 can then removethe item “Father.jpg” from the folder “User Folder 1” (i.e. from thesecond listing view area 94).

FIG. 10 illustrates a screen representation for a fifth exemplary ofuser interaction according to the present invention, of interworkingbetween functional view areas supporting Web access.

Referring to FIG. 10, when the user generates an input signal foractivating a Web access function, the mobile terminal 100 can connect toa Web server using one of a preset address and an input address anddisplay a Web access view area for outputting data provided by the Webserver on the display unit 141. When the user generates an input signalfor activating the “Twitter” function, the mobile terminal 100 canconnect to a Twitter server and display a Twitter view area foroutputting data provided by the Twitter server on the display unit 141.Hence, as illustrated in screen 1001, the mobile terminal 100 candisplay a Web access view area 101 and a Twitter view area 102 oncorresponding divided screen areas of the display unit 141.

The user can browse news in the Web access view area 101 by generating atouch event such as a tap. For example, when the user selects a link“Health care”, the mobile terminal 100 can send the link selectioninformation to the Web server, receive a news item related to “Healthcare” from the Web server, and output the received news item in the Webaccess view area 101, as illustrated in screen 1003.

As illustrated in screen 1005, when the user select an update field 103in the Twitter view area 102, the mobile terminal 100 can allow the userto enter an input in the update field 103. That is, the user cangenerate an input signal for entering a text string “Health care yahoenews is here!” in the update field 103 as illustrated in screen 1007.The user can generate an input signal for selecting, for example, a URLaddress 104 displayed in the Web access view area 101 through a doubletap, and for entering the selected URL address 104 in the update field103 of the access view area 102 through a drag event, as illustrated inscreen 1009.

The mobile terminal 100 can enter both the text string (screen 1005) andthe URL address 104 (screen 1009) in the update field 103 as illustratedin screen 1011. Thereafter, when the user generates an input signal foruploading the input information to the Twitter server, the mobileterminal 100 can upload the input information to the Twitter server.

In FIG. 10, information obtained from the Web access view area isapplied to the Twitter view area. Information obtained from the Twitterview area can also be applied to the Web access view area as describedbelow in connection with FIG. 11.

Referring to FIG. 11, when the user activates a Web access function anda Twitter function, the mobile terminal 100 can display a Twitter viewarea 102 and a Web access view area 101 on the corresponding dividedscreen areas of the display unit 141 as illustrated in screen 1101.

When the user generates an input signal (a touch event) for selecting,for example, a URL address 104 displayed in the Twitter view area 102,the mobile terminal 100 can display Web data received from a Web serverindicated by the URL address 104 in the Web access view area 101 asillustrated in screen 1103.

FIG. 12 illustrates a screen representation for a sixth exemplaryembodiment of user interaction according to the present invention, ofinteraction between a file search function and a twitter function.

Referring to FIG. 12, when the user generates an input signal forselecting a file search function, the mobile terminal 100 can display afile search view area 1211 related to the file search function on thedisplay unit 141. When the user generates an input signal for activatingthe Twitter function, the mobile terminal 100 can connect to a givenTwitter server and display a Twitter view area 1213 for outputting dataprovided by the Twitter server on the display unit 141. Hence, asillustrated in screen 1201, the mobile terminal 100 can display the filesearch view area 1211 and the Twitter view area 1213 on thecorresponding divided screen areas of the display unit 141.

When the user generates an input signal for selecting, for example, afolder “Images”, the mobile terminal 100 can display on the display unit141 a listing view area 1215 containing subordinate items of the folder“Images” including any of “Father.jpg”, “kathy.jpg”, “Sea.jpg”, “Redflower.jpg” and “cute.jpg”, as illustrated in screen 1203. When the usergenerates an input signal for selecting, for example, an item“Father.jpg” and moving the item “Father.jpg” to an upload field 1216 ofthe Twitter view area 1213, the mobile terminal 100 can enter the item“Father.jpg” in the upload field 1216 of the Twitter view area 1213 asillustrated in screen 1205. Here, the mobile terminal 100 notifies theuser of the upload file by outputting information on the uploaded file(i.e., “Father.jpg”).

Thereafter, in response to a sending request, the mobile terminal 100can transmit the upload file to the Twitter server.

FIG. 13 illustrates a screen representation for a seventh exemplaryembodiment of user interaction according to the present invention for aTwitter function with divided screen areas.

Referring to FIG. 13, when the user generates an input signal foractivating the “Twitter” function, the mobile terminal 100 can connectto a Twitter server using a preset Twitter address and display a Twitterview area 301 for outputting data provided by the Twitter server on thedisplay unit 141. The Twitter view area 301 can contain a list ofmessages registered with the Twitter server. Here, the mobile terminal100 can provide a menu containing one of an icon and a key forgenerating an input signal for activating the Twitter function to permitthe user to utilize the Twitter function.

As illustrated in screen 1301, the mobile terminal 100 can display a“Splitter” icon for divided screen area formation at a corner of thescreen. When the user generates an input signal for selecting the“Splitter” icon (through a tap), the mobile terminal 100 can divide thescreen into divided screen areas and display a first Twitter view area302 and a second Twitter view area 303 in the corresponding dividedscreen areas as illustrated in screen 1303. Here, the first Twitter viewarea 302 can be a resized version of the Twitter view area 301illustrated in screen 1301, and the second Twitter view area 303 can bea viewing view area related to a message selected by one of a presetdefault and the user in the first Twitter view area 302. Thus, when theuser generates an input signal for selecting another message in thefirst Twitter view area 302, the mobile terminal 100 can output thecontents of the newly selected message to the second Twitter view area303 as illustrated in screen 1305.

As illustrated in screen 1305, when the user generates an input signalfor deleting the selected message by selecting a “Delete” icon in thefirst Twitter view area 302, the mobile terminal 100 can delete theselected message and update the first Twitter view area 302 by deletingthe selected message.

As illustrated in screen 307, the mobile terminal 100 can display a“Merge” icon at a corner of the display unit 141 for returning to a fullscreen format. When the user generates an input signal for selecting the“Merge” icon, the mobile terminal 100 can end divided screen areaformation and enlarge the first Twitter view area 302 into the Twitterview area 301 as illustrated in screen 1309. With enlargement, existingimages and text in the first Twitter view area 302 can be expanded andnew images and text can be added to the Twitter view area 301.

Hereinabove, a description is given of the method of supporting dividedscreen areas. When user functions are activated in response to userinput signals, the screen is divided into divided screen areas on thebasis of the properties of the user functions, temporal relationsbetween the user functions, and explicit requests for divided screenarea formation, and functional view areas including view areaa first andsecond functional view area are displayed on the corresponding dividedscreen areas.

In the above description, several exemplary forms of user interactionaccording to the present invention are illustrated and described.However, the present invention is not limited to these. For an effectiveuser interface, additional forms of user interaction including automatictransition between the divided screen areas and the full screen can alsobe supported according to one of the design and user settings.

Although not shown, if necessary, the mobile terminal 100 can furtherinclude at least one of a short-range communication module forshort-range communication, a camera module for capturing still andmoving images of a target object, a data communication interface basedon wired and wireless communication, an Internet communication modulefor Internet access, and a digital broadcast receiving module. With thedigital convergence trend, it should be apparent to those skilled in theart that the mobile terminal 100 of the present invention can furtherinclude a unit comparable to the above-described units, and one unit ofthe mobile terminal 100 can be one of removed and replaced with anotherunit.

The mobile terminal of the present invention can be a touch-enableddevice, and can be any information and communication appliance andmultimedia appliance, including any of a mobile communication terminal,a portable multimedia player (PMP), a personal digital assistant (PDA),a music player like an MP3 player, a portable game console, a smartphone, a notebook computer, or a handheld computer.

The above-described methods according to the present invention can berealized in hardware or as software or computer code that can be storedin a recording medium such as a CD ROM, a RAM, a floppy disk, a harddisk, or a magneto-optical disk or downloaded over a network, so thatthe methods described herein can be executed by such software using ageneral purpose computer, or a special processor or in programmable ordedicated hardware, such as an ASIC or FPGA. As would be understood inthe art, the computer, the processor or the programmable hardwareinclude memory components, e.g., RAM, ROM, Flash, etc. that may store orreceive software or computer code that when accessed and executed by thecomputer, processor or hardware implement the processing methodsdescribed herein.

Although exemplary embodiments of the present invention have beendescribed in detail hereinabove, it should be understood that manyvariations and modifications of the basic inventive concept hereindescribed, which can occur to those skilled in the art, will still fallwithin the spirit and scope of the present invention as defined in theappended claims.

1. A screen area dividing method for a mobile terminal, comprising:generating a plurality of input signals for any of sequentially andsimultaneously activating a plurality of user functions; activating theplurality of user functions according to at least one of the pluralityof generated input signals; dividing the screen into a plurality ofdivided screen areas each corresponding to at least one of the pluralityof user functions; and outputting a functional view area associated witheach of the plurality of activated user functions to the correspondingdivided screen area of the plurality of divided screen areas.
 2. Thescreen area dividing method of claim 1, wherein dividing the screen intoa plurality of divided screen areas is invoked by at least one of: whena dual menu item that is created for at least one of divided screen areaformation and for outputting functional view areas associated with menusis activated, performing— first, activating user functions in sequence,and generating an input signal for requesting to make a divided screenarea; formation after activating user functions in sequence; after afirst user function is activated, performing— generating an input signalfor activating a subordinate function of the first user function, andactivating an event generation function on the basis of one of aninternal and external system event; and generating an input signal foractivating a user function and a subordinate function of the userfunction.
 3. The screen area dividing method of claim 1, whereinoutputting a functional view area comprises one of: displaying,according to activation of independent user functions, a functional viewarea associated with the independent user functions on the correspondingdivided screen area; displaying, according to repeated activation of auser function, a functional view area associated with each instance ofthe user function on the corresponding divided screen area; displaying afunctional view area associated with a first user function and afunctional view area associated with a second user function related tothe first user function on the corresponding divided screen area; anddisplaying a functional view area associated with a user function and afunctional view area associated with a subordinate user function of theuser function on the corresponding divided screen area.
 4. The screenarea dividing method of claim 1, further comprising transitioningbetween functional view areas on the divided screen areas according toan input signal.
 5. The screen area dividing method of claim 4, whereintransitioning between functional view areas comprises one of: when asearch view area is output in response to an input signal after dividedscreen area formation and a new user function is selected from thesearch view area, replacing one of the functional view areas beingoutput on the divided screen areas with a functional view areaassociated with the newly selected user function; and when a menu viewarea is output in response to an input signal after divided screen areaformation and a new menu item is selected from the menu view area,replacing one of the functional view areas being output on the dividedscreen areas with a functional view area associated with the newlyselected menu item.
 6. The screen area dividing method of claim 5,wherein outputting the menu view area comprises: resizing eachfunctional view area being output on the divided screen areas; anddisplaying the menu view area among the resized functional view areas.7. The screen area dividing method of claim 5, wherein, when the newmenu item selected from the menu view area is a dual menu item, thefunctional view areas being output on the corresponding divided screenareas are replaced with functional view areas associated with theselected dual menu item.
 8. The screen area dividing method of claim 1,further comprising performing function interworking by carrying out atleast one of insertion, search, copy, transfer, and invoking ofinformation between the functional view areas on the divided screenareas.
 9. The screen area dividing method of claim 8, wherein performingfunction interworking between a first and a second functional view area,comprises at least one of: copying an information item displayed in thefirst functional view area to the second functional view area; utilizingan information item displayed in the first functional view area,carrying out a search in the second functional view area; finding atleast one file listed in the first functional view area and attachingthe found file in the second functional view area; utilizing aninformation item displayed in the first functional view area to one ofmake a call and view a map in the second functional view area; movingand saving an information item displayed in the first functional viewarea to the second functional view area; using an information itemdisplayed in the first functional view area, connecting to a server fromthe second functional view area; and moving a list item displayed in thefirst functional view area to a selected folder in the second functionalview area.
 10. The screen area dividing method of claim 1, furthercomprising outputting a dual menu item that combines two items together,wherein the dual menu item is capable of activating a plurality of userfunctions.
 11. A mobile terminal capable of supporting divided screenareas, comprising: a storage unit for storage of a plurality ofapplication programs realizing user functions; an input unit forgeneration of input signals for one of sequentially and simultaneouslyactivating user functions; a control unit for activation of userfunctions according to input signals, and output of functional viewareas associated with the user functions on the divided screen areas;and a display unit for display of the functional view areas.
 12. Themobile terminal of claim 11, wherein the input unit performs at leastone of: generation of an input signal for— selection of a dual menu itemthat is created for divided screen area formation, output of functionalview areas associated with menus, and request of divided screen areaformation after activation of user functions in sequence; after a firstuser function is activated, generation of an input signal to activate asubordinate function of the first user function; and generation of aninput signal for activation of a user function and a subordinatefunction of the activated user function.
 13. The mobile terminal ofclaim 11, wherein the display unit provides at least one of: display offunctional view areas associated with the independent user functions onthe corresponding divided screen areas according to activation ofindependent user functions; display of functional view areas associatedwith instances of the user function on the corresponding divided screenareas according to repeated activation of a user function; display of afunctional view area associated with a first user function and afunctional view area associated with a second user function related tothe first user function on the corresponding divided screen area;display of a functional view area associated with a user function and afunctional view area associated with a subordinate user function of thedisplayed user function on the corresponding divided screen area; anddisplay of a functional view area associated with an activated firstuser function and a functional view area associated with an eventgeneration function corresponding to one of an internal and externalsystem event on the corresponding divided screen area.
 14. The mobileterminal of claim 11, wherein the display unit outputs a search viewarea containing at least one icon for display of a functional view areaafter divided screen area formation, and outputs a menu view areacontaining at least one menu for display of a functional view area afterdivided screen area formation.
 15. The mobile terminal of claim 14,wherein the control unit controls, in response to an input signal foroutput of the menu view area, the display unit to resize each of thefunctional view areas being output on the divided screen areas and todisplay the menu view area among the resized functional view areas, andcontrols, when a dual menu item is selected from the menu view area, thedisplay unit to replace the functional view areas being output on thedivided screen areas with functional view areas associated with theselected dual menu item.
 16. The mobile terminal of claim 11, whereinthe control unit controls an operation through the display unit foroutput of a first functional view area and a second functional view areato: copy an information item displayed in the first functional view areato the second functional view area; carry out, utilizing an informationitem displayed in the first functional view area, a search in the secondfunctional view area; find at least one file listed in the firstfunctional view area and attach the found file in the second functionalview area; utilize an information item displayed in the first functionalview area to one of make a call and view a map in the second functionalview area; move an information item displayed in the first functionalview area to the second functional view area and store the movedinformation item; connect to, using an information item displayed in thefirst functional view area, a server from the second functional viewarea; and move a list item displayed in the first functional view areato a selected folder in the second functional view area.
 17. The mobileterminal of claim 11, wherein the display unit outputs an icon forgeneration of an input signal to request divided screen area formation.18. The mobile terminal of claim 17, wherein the display unit outputs anicon for generation of an input signal to return from divided screenarea formation to a full screen format.
 19. The mobile terminal of claim11, wherein the display unit adjusts the size of the functional viewareas displayed in the divided screen areas in accordance with an inputsignal.
 20. The mobile terminal of claim 11, wherein the display unitoutputs a dual menu item that combines two items together that iscapable of activation of a plurality of user functions.